Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande eBook

stretch her arms out so?—­what does she wish?”
“Toward her child, without doubt,” answers
the physician. “It is the struggle of motherhood
against....” “At this moment?—­At
once?” cries Golaud, in a renewed outburst of
anguish.... “Oh, oh! I must speak to
her! Melisande! Melisande!—­leave
me alone with her!” “Trouble her not,”
gravely interposes Arkel. “Do not speak
to her again.—­You know not what the soul
is.—­We must speak in low tones now.
She must no longer be disturbed. The human soul
is very silent. The human soul likes to depart
alone. It suffers so timidly! But the sadness,
Golaud, the sadness of all we see!” At this
moment the servants fall suddenly on their knees at
the back of the room. Arkel turns suddenly:
“What is the matter?” The physician approaches
the bed and examines the body of Melisande. “They
are right,” he says. There is a silence.

“I saw nothing. Are you sure?” questions
Arkel.

“Yes, yes.”

“I heard nothing. So quickly! so quickly!
She goes without a word!”

Golaud sobs aloud.

“Do not remain here,” says Arkel.
“She must have silence now. Come; come.
It is terrible, but it is not your fault. It was
a little being, so quiet, so timid, and so silent.
It was a poor little mysterious being like everyone.
She lies there as though she were the elder sister
of her baby. Come; the child should not stay
here in this room. She must live, now, in her
place. It is the poor little one’s turn.”

III

THE MUSIC

A REVOLUTIONARY SCORE

Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, drame lyrique
en 5 actes et 12 tableaux, was performed for the
first time on any stage at the Opera-Comique, Paris,
April 30, 1902. Its first performance outside
of Paris was at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels,
January 9, 1907; its second was at Frankfort, April
19, 1907. Its third will be the coming production
at the Manhattan Opera House, New York. The original
Paris cast was as follows: Pelleas, M.
Jean Perier; Melisande, Miss Mary Garden; Arkel,
M. Vieuille; Golaud, M. Dufrane; Genevieve,
Mlle. Gerville-Reache; Le petit Yniold,
M. Blondin; Un Medicin, M. Viguie. M.
Andre Messager was the conductor. The work was
admirably mounted under the supervision of the Director
of the Opera-Comique, M. Albert Carre.

The fortunes of the opera have not been altogether
happy. It has been said that Debussy conceived
the idea of writing music for Maeterlinck’s
play soon after its first performance at the Bouffes-Parisiens
in 1893; that, although it was necessary to secure
the dramatist’s consent to its adaptation, he
did not solicit Maeterlinck’s permission until
he had thought out his musical scheme to a considerable
degree of elaboration; and that Maeterlinck (being
of that complacent majority of literary men who neither